Yahoo Sports Miesha Tate’s List of Hopeful Next Opponents Includes Gina Carano, Holly Holm and Sarah Kaufman
Former Strikefroce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate scored her first UFC win on Saturday at UFC on FOX 11 in Orlando, Fla., with a unanimous decision victory over Liz Carmouche.
It was Tate’s third UFC fight. She lost her promotional debut to Cat Zingano in April 2013 and was defeated by champion Ronda Rousey for the second time in her last outing.
“I was going through a mental hurdle so to speak, losing two in a row and thinking, man, am I just cursed. Like, can I just not win a UFC fight, or what is it? I’m over that hurdle now,” said the 27-year-old during the UFC Post Fight Show on FOX Sports 2. “I’m over that hurdle now and I’m looking forward to moving forward from there.”
With the feud with Rousey behind her, and her first UFC win under her belt, Tate is looking ahead to who’s next. And she has a list of names.
“I think Sara Kaufman would be a great fight. It’s one that I lost 29-28 back in Strikeforce when there was only three-minute rounds. She’s off a good win,” said Tate.
Kaufman and Tate fought in May 2009. Kaufman won by unanimous decision. When Strikeforce first featured female fights, they only fought three, three-minute rounds.
Tate would also like to fight “that boxing girl that’s not in the UFC yet.” She’s talking about multiple-time world boxing champion and undefeated mixed martial artist Holly Holm.
“Holly Holm, I think that she needs to come over to the UFC. And she’s undefeated. She’s got a lot of hype going in too. She wants to climb her way to the top. I think that would be a good starting place,” said Tate.
Holm and her representatives met with UFC president Dana White recently and talks did not go well. After the meeting, White said the organization is no longer interested in signing Holm.
During the UFC on FOX 11 post-fight press conference, Tate said she’d love to fight Gina Carano.
“I’d like it. I’ll take that fight all day long. I’ll fight anybody, but I’d love to fight Gina,” said Tate.
The possibility of Carano returning to mixed martial arts after a five-year hiatus from the sport has snagged headlines over the last couple of months. She also recently sat down with the UFC president to discuss a potential comeback.
“We don’t have a deal with her yet – she’s still under her Strikeforce deal which ends in June – (but) I’m confident we will,” said White about Carano during the post-fight press conference. “But until we have a deal with her we’re not thinking about anything.”
